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Well, the SPX is under 1175 and I sold 1200/1210 call spreads for $1.10. May sound a bit bold/risky but the market internals are so bad and with more earnings news coming, I don't see much of a rally in the next few days. 1155/1165/1200/1210.

rdeyman, I won't speak for coach but I'm sure the small 5-point roll has a lot to do with the little time remaining to exp.

"Sold lower strike SPX Call Spreads at 1220/1230 @ $0.25" -- Phil, did you look at 1210/1220 for $0.75? SPX is currently at 1180 and that would be a 30 point pop in 8 days to reach 1210...

"and if we move close to 1180 i may be forced to adjust down another 5 points or so for more cushion for the remaining 6 days or so of trading." -- Phil, I wonder if 5 points is enough?

SPX futures (symbol /ES5ZG on TOS) is down -2.75

Phil, I'm beginning to think it is inevitable that the 1160/1170 will have to be adjusted. Here are 3 possibilities for rolling down (buying condor to close 1160/1170 and opening a new spread): 1) Buy 1150/1160/1160/1170 -- $0.75 debit 2) Buy 1140/1150/1160/1170 -- $1.40 debit 3)...

Phil, Any thoughts on using OTM put calendar spreads as hedges?

Phil, Many here are end-of-day traders. I do look at one-minute realtime charts using the TOS platform but it's not "second nature". You mentioned you have quite some experience with this (TICK is one thing you looked at). Can you offer some low-hanging-fruit guidelines for assessing SPX...

"Are you considering any adjustments to Oct. 1175/1165 put spreads. I beleive that we are close to the 15 point "danger zone"." -- Phil, I guess the three choices are roll it down to another OCT spread, roll it down and out to a NOV spread, or close it, or wait?

Phil, My OCT 1160/1170/1265/1275 is now worth 0.70. I received 1.45 credit for it, so I'm at around 50% of max profit. I'm wondering if I should close out and roll to Nov or stay put till OCT expiration or thereabouts. I am unclear on the logic/thought process/tradeoff analysis to get to...

Phil, " In July I went on a cruise for 10 days and checked in 2x using internet for a toal of 30 minutes." -- yes, this is the benefit of this strategy, but sometimes I wonder what would happen if you DID need to suddenly do some fast-acting adjustments while on vacation....

Phil, This is a very helpful analysis. By the way, I know tat you used a fly to hedge your put spreads recently. Do you recall if that had an effect on overall (ie. position) delta?

Phil, "However, remember that more time should mean that you go further OTM for protection. So do not choose strikes in November that you would consider for October unless you have some good TA or other reasons." -- Makes a lot of sense, but when it comes to strike selection, sometimes I...

Phil, Oct 1270/1280 spreads are $0.25, Nov are $1.35 Think it's worth considering the latter?

Shawn, I did some comparisons of selling spreads 30 days out versus selling 90 days out. The 30 day spreads' returns won hands down (I divided the 90 day spreads by 3 to come up with a monthly return).

Phil, Appreciate your thoughts on this: I sold SPX 1160/1170 put spreads a few days ago for 0.90. I think I can unload them for 0.55 today. If I can do that, I can then wait for a major dip and grab some 1140/1150 put spreads. What do you think of this approach (instead of sitting tight...

Dr. Zhivodka, I do the risk calculation a little differently. I calculate the worst case scenario, say vol up 10%, index 10 points away from short strike, 5 days into the future. (These are all easy to set with the TOS platform.) Then I read my loss. This is the max loss I'm willing to live...

"Also, adding a FLY on the SPX would be messy for me to have my SPX credit put spreads and then SPX puts as part of the FLY all mixed in. I have a personal preference to keep them in separate instruments to track." -- Phil, this is exactly what I found when trying to hedge with the same...

"Today I bought 30 OCT SPY 120/117/114 Put Butterflies @ $0.45" -- Phil, could you explain a little about how you selected the strikes for the put fly? Why did you center on 117 and not, say, 118? Why did you select a width of 3?

Thanks Phil. Another question that may sound "dumb" but it's probably not obvious to some newbies (at least it was not obvious to me until I actually tried it) so it may be useful on this board: why didn't you do the fly in SPX itself?